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Smiths Falls, Ontario — population 8,885 — is seeing a revival of fortunes since medical marijuana producer Tweed Inc. set up shop four years ago in an abandoned Hershey Co. chocolate factory. The company, since renamed Canopy Growth Corp., has become the world’s largest publicly traded cannabis producer and is the town’s largest private-sector employer.

“We’re recognized as the pot capital of Canada — and we’re proud of that,” Mayor Shawn Pankow said in an interview from the town hall, a two-story brick building erected in 1859 on the main street. “The local economy is certainly far better today than it was before Tweed came to town.”

Starting New Year's Day, the sale of marijuana for recreational use will be permitted in California, the country's most populous state.

What does that mean for air travelers who try to bring small amounts of marijuana with them?

That is a conundrum for the state's airports, which are locally owned and operated but are subject to federal law, under which marijuana is an illegal substance. Areas beyond security checkpoints are under federal control.

When Harrison Township votes on its medical marijuana ordinance next month, there is expected to be little opposition to the plan to allow a couple of dozen cannabis businesses into the Macomb County community.

“At last check, we had 18 legitimate grow operations in the community. At a minimum, if there is an existing business, why would we tell the owner, 'You have to evict your tenant?'” said township Supervisor Ken Verkest. “This is a great source of revenue for us. Whether you like it or not, it’s coming. Isn’t it better to eliminate these black market, cash-only guys?”

It's a different story in Oakland County’s Oakland Township, where township Supervisor Dale Stuart says medical marijuana businesses will never be welcome.

California already has the world’s largest pot economy and the state is preparing to legalize recreational sales on Jan. 1. But a new study about marijuana use by pregnant women suggests the pot boom is having an overlooked impact on public health.

Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland looked at data collected from 279,000 pregnant women who completed a screening for marijuana use as part of standard prenatal care. Across all age groups in the study, marijuana use by pregnant women saw a modest increase from 4 percent in 2009 to 7 percent in 2016. But over that same period, self-reported weed use by expectant teens under 18 soared from 13 percent to nearly 22 percent, and from 10 percent to 19 percent among pregnant women ages 18 to 24.

Officials are cautioning Californians that the state won’t be devoid of marijuana regulations when the drug becomes legal for recreational use on Jan. 1.

Messages reminding drivers, “Drive high, get a DUI,” began popping up on Amber Alert display signs along freeways statewide on Wednesday as part of a campaign launched days before California officially becomes the sixth state to fully legalize weed.

Driving under the influence of marijuana has always been illegal in the state, but law enforcement will face new challenges in regulating such offenses once pot use inevitably becomes more commonplace.

A new day, a new year and a new era dawn all at once on January 1 in California.

When morning comes to 2018, it brings with it the first day of legal retail sales of cannabis to all adults 21 and over. California was one of four states where voters legalized adult-use marijuana possession and sales on Election Day 2016, and it will be the second to begin what’s expected to be a multi-billion-dollar market. Dispensaries in Nevada opened over the summer.

In California, where medical marijuana sales have been going on in some form since the 1990s, retail outlets that shut their doors on December 31 as medical marijuana-only will open for business as adult-use dispensaries—but this momentous occasion will not happen everywhere in the state, and not all at once.